On Earth as it is in Spira
by Prince Of New York
Summary: This is the sequal to the story "Close Encounters of the FFX Kind" The story of Connie continues as she starts to learn magic, and, with the help of her cousin and friends, become someone totally different.
1. Preparations

Disclaimer: Welcome to the sequel… I mean the new story! It's kinda like an ending to the other one. The rest of it… almost. Except it's not really a sequel, because it's an all new concept. ANYWAY…The only characters that are mine are Connie, her family, her friends, and her family's friends. "All the other characters are from FFX, FFX-2, FFVII, and Yu Yu Hackusho. Unless you count the dog and cat's names which are from Kingdom Hearts, the animals are mine, but the names are from Kingdom Hearts." Everything in the quotes you better get used to seeing, 'cause it will be at the beginning of every chapter… enjoy! Well… it may be a tad different thought, but generally the same. Oh, and I suggest that before you read this story you may wanna reach "Close Encounters of the FFX Kind!" because that story is kinda related to this one. Acctually… it will help a lot, but, it isn't needed. I'll try to re-explain some things. Okay, now… let's do this…

On Earth as it is in Spira: Chapter 1: Preparations

I stood there staring at myself in the mirror when Max looked at me and said, "Right now. We can leave immediately." Max was my cousin. Blonde hair, tall… and, as I recently heard, now goes by Cloud more than Max. He's been on Brother's Airship, The Celsius, for about four years now. Here, this will take some explanation.

About four years ago I spent a lot of time online. I would go and talk to a group of average people. The only thing was that we all went by names that were used in Final Fantasy games and other things as well. I was Lulu. We would always talk, and we had a great time! One day Yuna, Rikku, and Paine all asked to come and meet me. What could I say? No? I gave them the go ahead and they came to visit over vacation. They spent a few days with me, and Max came and hung out too. Let's see… who all was there… If I remember right there was Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Lenne ,Aeris, Baralai, Kurama , Mrs. Auron, Calli, Tidus, Yuffie, Shuyin, and a girl named Silly, who wasn't from any game. They all came by and we got to spend some time with them. Silly then asked us if we wanted to come and join them on the airship. Max said yes, mostly because he could be with Aeris, is my guess, but I said no, and stayed in the good ole' public school systems of the good ole' USA! We didn't hear much from Max through those years. Well, not until now. Now, I'm a senior in high school, and Max would be a senior on college. It all worked out rather well. I spend a lot of time with my Grandma Jill, and I'm the only one who calls her that, Grandma Jill. Anyway, now Max was back, and he's telling me that fiends are invading Earth for unknown reasons. So now, they all are gonna try to get rid of them. Not only that, but also Max wants me to come and learn magic. I mean, real, hard-core, black, let's-beat-those-fiends, Lulu, magic. The thing is that I look just like her, and I used to use her name on the internet. SO, now that you're up to date, let's continue on.

"Now?" I asked. "Wait a minute; I have to tell my parents…"

"They'll think you're here," he said cutting me off.

"What if something happens to..."

"Nothing will happen to you," he said cutting me off again.

"What if…"

"Connie! Please! Stop with the worrying. We need someone to do the magic."

"Why can't you just use a dress sphere?" I asked.

"We need those three on their posts too. We need someone doing magic all the time."

I sighed. I had to go. There was no alternative, no way out. Of course, I didn't want one. I wanted to go, I was just a little worried. "You promise it will all go okay?" I asked, to make sure.

"Promise," he said.

"Okay, but I'll need some stuff."

He nodded and headed to the kitchen. "Hey, Jill, you got any cookies?" he asked.

"I thought you would never ask," she said.

I packed everything in one suitcase. After all they said they'd provide the things I didn't have. Who knows, maybe the magic was in the outfit or something. I brought everything that looked semi-close to what Lulu had. About 20 minutes later I headed to the kitchen with the bag in hand. The bag wasn't even that big, only about foot, by foot, by foot, relatively small. I walked in and smiled. "Okay, I think I have about all I need."

Max nodded. "Alright, so you're ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I'm gonna get." I said.

"Okay, oh, but first..." he explained the Comsphere to Grandma Jill. He also went over a few things to be looking out for, random break outs from Zoos, lots of animals in concentrated areas, things like that. Then he looked at me. "You ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she said.

"Okay," he said and looked at Grandma Jill. "Jill, we'll call you tonight from the Celsius."

"You take care of your cousin," she said, "both of you." She smiled and hugged us both and saw us to the door. "Have fun, be careful!" she said. The second we stepped outside Max put on a pair of mirrored sunglasses.

"Nice," I said. "Get those in Spira?" I asked sarcastically.

"Ha…ha… very funny." But the sunglasses stayed on. "It's so no one recognizes me"

"Great plan for a disguise. No one will know its Cloud!" I said, once again, sarcastically.

"Yeah, well… shut up," he said.

I just started laughing. We made our way to the near by forest. "So, you excited?" he asked.

"A little," I said.

"Scared?"

"More so than excited. How do you expect me to learn magic again?"

"We'll figure something out."

"Thanks, that's very encouraging."

We eventually found the Celsius. "Here it is!" It looked just like it was supposed to, huge beyond all imagine, sure, but just about right.

"Wow… that's huge," I said.

"Let's go!" he said walking up to the ship. He knocked and said, "Cloud." The door opened with a hiss and we walked inside the airship.


	2. ReAcquainting

Disclaimer: "The only characters that are mine are Connie, her family, her friends, and her family's friends. All the other characters are from FFX, FFX-2, FFVII, and Yu Yu Hackusho. Unless you count the dog and cat's names which are from Kingdom Hearts, the animals are mine, but the names are from Kingdom Hearts." See. I told you it would be in every chapter. Now, before I waste any more space or time, let's start chapter 2, shall we?

On Earth as it is in Spira: Chapter 2: Re-Acquainting

As I walked into the Celsius I could see nothing but darkness. Pitch black. Max, however, had an easier time. He just took off his sunglasses, and walked forward. "Follow me," he said. There was a loud wurring sound. "It's okay, it's just the engines. Just come on." I couldn't see him, but I could hear his voice, and I just simply did what he said to do. Did I have any other choice? Not really. Soon we turned a corner and light came bursting in through a door. Just when I had started to get used to the dark. "Come on," he said. I saw him walk into the lighted door. I trusted him, so I followed.

I soon entered a room that made me blink about 20 times before my eyes adjusted. While my eyes were adjusting I heard people start to talk.

"No way," I heard.

"This can't be her," said another voice.

"She looks different, Cloud. Are you sure this is Lulu?"

"Yeah," I heard him say, "This is her."

When my eyes adjusted I looked around the room. Everyone was there. Well, almost everyone. I started counting people. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Max made 11, and I was 12. There used to be more. I realized that Kurama was gone. As was Mrs. A, and Calli. I didn't ask why, didn't come to my mind at the time. "Hey guys," I said, still adjusting fully to the light.

"YAY! IT'S LULU!" screamed Rikku. She ran over to me and hugged me. Well, it wasn't exactly a hug. It was more like she was squeezing an orange, and she had mistaken me for one.

"Good to see you again too, Rikku. Mind letting me breathe?" I asked.

"Oh!" she let go, and I was breathing hard after that. "Sorry! You just… I… I mean we haven't seen you for so long! You look so…"

"Different?" asked Paine.

"Yeah! That's the word!"

"Funny," I said, "You guys all look the same." They did too, that was the weird part. They looked just like they had the day they left. Well, all that is except for Max.

By then my eyes had adjusted to the light, and I could see the bridge. It was incredible! I mean, sure, you see shots of it in the game, but in real life the Celsius looked so much… bigger! But, it looked just as it had in X-2. My eyes gazed around the room at all the high tech equipment. Brother was in his seat, driving, and Buddy was where he was to be too, as well as Shinra. I set my bag down, and walked over to the sphere in the middle. The big one, with all the words on it. I tried to read it, but it went to fast. I still don't know what it said. I took my eyes off that contraption, and continued to look around. "Nice, ain't it?" asked Yuffie.

"Yeah!" I said back. "Awesome!"

"She'll get over the shock of it all pretty quick. Then we can all get to work," said Max. I knew he was kind of making fun of me, but I really didn't care, this was incredible!

"So," said Yuna, trying to break me out of this trance I was in, "how have you been? Been doing anything interesting?" she asked.

"In the middle of winter, no, not really. But I do graduate in about 5 months!"

"That's good. Lookin' forward to it?" she asked.

"Yeah, freedom. It'll rock!"

She laughed. "Yeah, I bet."

Silly stepped up. She was the only one who looked different. Everyone else, well, except for Max, looked the same. But Silly, had gotten older. When she first came to see me and Max I think she was about one year older than me. That would make her about 18 now, or so. Just the right age. "So, got any plans for college?" she asked.

"Kinda. I was going to go to New York, and study there."

"New York? Is that a big town?" asked Rikku.

"You could say that. I think one of the biggest in the U.S."

"Wow…" said Rikku. "What's it like?" she asked.

"I don't know. I've never been there. But, I have seen pictures. It's really bright, with a lot of lights. Lots of people too. They call it the city that never sleeps. That's pretty true too. I mean, no matter where you go I bet there is always something open, or someone out, or something happening. That's just the way New York is. But, the college there is awesome, so I hear. And, it's perfect for what I want to go into. The perfect place to learn it all."

"What do you want to study?" asked Silly.

"Well, I want to go into acting. I think it would be fun. I've done a little, but I want to get better at it. So, I'm thinking of majoring in acting, and taking music as a minor."

"Artsy ay?" asked Rikku. "Sounds like fun."

"I hope so."

"Okay," interrupted Max. "I've had about enough of all this small talk. Let's get going, okay?"

Silly nodded. "Right. We have a lot to do, and we should probably get started. Yuna, why don't you, Rikku, and Paine get started. Work on some of your less used dresspheres." They nodded, and stared out. "Lenne, Tidus, Baralai, and Shuyin go get started, and warmed up. I'll be there in a sec." They all nodded, and started toward the exit of the bridge. "Cloud, I would like you, Yuffie, and Aeris to go get started too."

"You got it. But, wait, I promised Jill… uh… what about Connie here?" Max asked. I was amazed. He actually cared what was gonna happen. I guess he never was one for going back on a promise.

"Don't worry. I'll get her started. She and I have some magic work to do."

"I'll be okay, Max." I said, trying to encourage him. "I'll be casting fire spells before you can say, "Burn." I said. I laughed a little. Though, my hands got kind of hot, but I didn't notice it too much, just a little.

Max shrugged. "Okay, well, if you need me, just come and find me."

I waved, and so did Silly as the three of them left the bridge behind the others.

"So," I asked, "now what?"

"Now… we make an attempt at your magic skills. First a couple of questions."

"Fire away," I said. My hands got kinda hot again, but I just stuffed them in my pockets, and ignored it.

"Okay, you may find these questions kind of cheesy, but they are actually things that have to be answered, and correctly. Don't worry their easy. And, if you are the person I think you were when I first met you, you should be fine." I nodded, and she nodded back.

"Do you believe in magic? Do you think that you could perform magic, if taught? Not just illusions, or slight of hand, but the magic that you have seen on television, and video games since, well… forever! The magic that you aren't sure you can perform. The magic that you aren't sure anyone can perform. The magic you think to only be fictionous. Do you believe in the magic that no one can perform, that you can perform, that anyone, if given half the chance can perform?"

"That's a lot of questions," I replied. My head was spinning. It was almost like it were a dream, but I knew better. This was not dream. No, this was real. Almost too real. But, I couldn't exactly back down now. The engine sounds echoed in my ears. The room was almost blurry.

"Lulu… Connie, are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine," I said. I shook my head hard. "Yeah, just fine."

"Well… please. I need an answer."

"Okay," I said. I thought for just a second, and looked at the ground. I knew the answer, but I was thinking if this was something I wanted to do. Put my life in danger. Do a skill that no one, on Earth had mastered yet. Nothing anyone could do. I looked up, and met her eyes. "Yes," I said. "I do."


	3. The Thin Line

Disclaimer: "The only characters that are mine are Connie, her family, her friends, and her family's friends. All the other characters are from FFX, FFX-2, and FFVII. Unless you count the dog and cat's names which are from Kingdom Hearts, the animals are mine, but the names are from Kingdom Hearts." Yeah, if you compare this Disclaimer to the other one, you'll notice that Yu Yu Hackusho is gone. I meant to do that. Since Kurama is gone there is no point in having that title there any longer. Okay, now, that we've established that Connie believes in magic, shall we see what happens next? I want to know! Let's go…

On Earth as it is in Spira: Chapter 3: The Thin Line

Silly smiled at me. After answering yes to all those questions she had no reason to be mad, after all. The echoing stopped, the blurred room stopped, all of it came back to normal, though I felt different, somehow. It was strange. I can't even explain it. "Great," she said. "Let's get you started. First, you'll need to look that part. Trust me; you'll be able to do more with the right look. Don't ask me to explain why, but you will." I just shrugged. I trusted her.

"Alright," I said. "Then, let's get going."

Silly started off the Bridge, but stopped, and turned back around. "Brother?" she said.

"Yes?" said Brother, in his classic Al Bhed accent.

"Keep looking, will ya? I have to go teach Lulu how to do magic. You gonna be alright?"

"Yes! Good Luck!" he said.

Silly ran off of the Bridge and I followed. She got in the elevator, and went to the cabin. I followed. Once we got there, and out of the elevator I looked to my right. "Hello! May I be of some ashishtansh?" It was Barkeep. Of course he meant assistance, but it came out like the common way it does. But, boy, did he look strange! A big, blue, man, who spoke, to an extent, and… I mean, it was awesome! He looked like a blue lizard. He was all scaly, and stuff.

"Hi, Barkeep!" said Silly. I was amazed at how much energy she had. She was a full year older than me, and she was as hyper as… well… as Rikku! "Can you give me the key to wardrobe?" she asked.

"Yesh… I think it'sh here shomewhere." He disappeared behind the counter for a second. "Yesh! Here it ish!" He pulled out a sphere with a rope on it.

"Thanks!" said Silly taking the key. She dashed over to the stage, and I followed. "Hop on. We need to go lower." I nodded, and got on the stage, next to her. She placed the sphere into the microphone. It was a perfect fit. Then, she pulled lightly on the rope, and the stage started downward. As we sunk below the floor she said, "Please keep your arms and legs inside the stage at all times. Thank you for choosing the stage elevator!" As the stage stopped she laughed at herself, and her comment. She really was what her name said, Silly. "Come on. I think your outfit is back here." She started into the room, and I got another look around the place. It wasn't very big, but it was stuffed full of outfits. I walked down the rows and read the tags on some of them. "Yuna's Summoner." "Rikku's First" I got to the end, and I saw 3 signs on three more rows. "Yuna's Dressphere," "Rikku's Dressphere," Paine's Dressphere." A different sign on each row.

"They disappear when they do a sphere change," Silly said.

"What?"

"Those costumes change when those three do sphere changes. They'll go from what you see now, to what they were wearing before the sphere change. It's cool to watch." She dashed back down the row she was on. "Here it is!" She pulled out Lulu's black dress. "I'd be careful if I were you. That skirt is kinda heavy. With all that metal, and those belts. But, I'm sure you can handle it. Why don't you try it on?" she said, handing me the dress. Boy, she wasn't kidding! I think the skirt it's self weighed 5 pounds, or more, maybe! I nearly dropped it when she handed it to me. "Go ahead. There's a room over there. Go on." She shoved me in the direction of the room. "Oh, here, you'll need these too." She handed me the bag that had every single piece of Lulu's jewelry in it and her shoes, not to mention everything that went in her hair. I think it weighed about the same as the dress. Maybe a little less.

I went into the room, and closed the door.

"Hey, Silly?" I yelled.

"Yes?"

"Do me a favor? Go to the bridge and grab my suit case. Okay?"

"You got it!" I heard her run out of the room, and back up the stage elevator. I started changing. It wasn't all that bad. Rather comfortable, actually. That kinda surprised me, since it appeared to be made of leather, and tight on Lulu. But, maybe the visual was misleading. "Back!" she yelled.

"Cool. Just hand it to me," I put my arm out the door, and she put it in my hand. "Thanks."

"No problem."

I opened the bag, and started to take things out of it. Make-up, hair brushes, you know, just about everything. Back at Grandma Jill's house I had grabbed the FFX and FFX-2 booklets. I pulled out the first one, and found the picture of Lulu. A really good one. The one where she is as a background, and not actually a solid picture on the page. It was the best reference I had. I put it next to the mirror, and started up. I got as close to the kind of make up she was wearing as I could. I didn't do too badly either! I fixed my hair to match the picture too. That was harder since my hair was so long, and so was hers. I tried my best to match it though.

Eventually, when it was all done I yelled to Silly, "Okay! I think I got it."

"Awesome! Let's see!"

I opened the door, and stepped out. Her jaw dropped. "Okay," I started, "I know it's not quite right… my hair is a little too long, I think, and my make up is almost the right shade, but I don't really think anyone will notice. The dress fits okay too, and-"

"That's INCREDIBLE!" she screamed.

"It's what?"

"Great! Perfect! You couldn't look better! Oh, but wait!" she ran down one of the hallways. She came back a few seconds later carrying a stuffed Moogle. "You'll need this." She tossed it to me, and I held on to it.

"How do I look?"

"Have you seen yourself in a full length mirror?" she countered.

"No, there wasn't one in there."

"Then come here, and you can answer your own question." She pulled me over to a near by wall, and showed me a mirror. "Ta-da." she said smiling.

I took one look at myself, and MY jaw dropped. "I… I…"

"You look just like her."

"This is spooky."

"Don't worry. It's happening fast for you. You'll adjust soon enough. Then you will hardly notice it anymore." I didn't really know what she meant by that. It was 'happening fast for me,' but I didn't think much of it at the time. There really was a thin line between Connie and Lulu.

"Now, come on. It's magic time, honey!" She grabbed me by the wrist, and started dragging me back out of the costume room, and to somewhere else, where I could practice my magic.


	4. One Winged Bird

Disclaimer: Once again, just incase any of you forgot how it goes here is my repeated disclaimer…. again. "The only characters that are mine are Connie, her family, her friends, and her family's friends. All the other characters are from FFX, FFX-2, and FFVII. Unless you count the dog and cat's names which are from Kingdom Hearts, the animals are mine, but the names are from Kingdom Hearts." Okay, now before I got off on some major tangent or something let's get the ball rolling.

On Earth as it is in Spira: Chapter 4: One Winged Bird

We came back up the stage elevator. She ran to barkeep again, I just stayed where I was. I still couldn't believe how different I looked. It scared me, a lot. A few seconds later Silly came back with yet another sphere. "Okay! Come on!" she hurried up the stairs in the cabin, and I followed her. She walked past both the beds, and towards the table sitting near by. She jumped up on the table. "Come on up!" she yelled down to me. I shrugged, and hoped up on the table. She bent down, and placed the sphere into the center of the table, and it started downward as well. "You know, there are all sorts of hidden practice rooms all over this ship. I mean everywhere! There's another one in the cabin, and there are two in the engine room. It's actually really cool."

The table stopped, just as the stage had. Except, this time it had steps for us to come down. Silly went first. I was kinda busy looking at the room, but I had reason to. It was a pretty big room. I'd say it was the size of a standard school gym, ceilings and bleachers included. I walked down the stairs, and upon reaching the floor heard my heels click on the floor. They echoed as I walked. I saw silly on the other side of the room jumping up and down waving her arms. I walked over to her, feeling my skirts brush against the floor.

"Hey!" she said. "Okay, stand here."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because this is point one. We're gonna start practicing your magic from here. Just let me go turn things on."

I stood where she told me to, as she ran toward a metal door, with a window next to it, about 30 feet away. I kept looking around the paint job was rather interesting. The whole room seemed to be painted in a metallic silver paint, or something. Everything, that is, except for a mural on one wall that was pretty big. It seemed to be a complete lineage, or something. I couldn't exactly see it from where I was, nor could I make out what is said, or what exactly was on it. Nor did I have the time, for the next thing I knew a fiend was right in front of me. A flan, to be exact. I froze, and started to back away. I didn't know magic yet, and there was a fiend right there!

Silly came out of the door. "Wait!" she said. "Don't move! Stay on your mark," she said.

"But if I stay here it will attack me, I don't intend to let that happen."

"No, you're fine. Oh… I knew I forgot something!" she said. She dashed back over to me and stood right next to the fiend. "It's fake!" She stuck her hand into it. "Hologram. See! Up there are the projectors," she said pointing to where the ceiling met the wall, and in the corners too. Now, any and all magic you do will be real, but anything you attack will be fake, for now anyway." She backed up. "Just stay here. I'm going to go into the booth over there. Don't worry, I can hear you, and you can hear me, but this is just to be safe, you know. Besides, the walls, and stuff are all magic and sound proof. So, I wouldn't recommend coming in here, and screaming for your life, because no one will hear you. Okay, so, that is a water flan. You can tell because it's all… blue… and uh… watery! Okay, so um, go a head."

"Silly," I said.

"Yeah?"

"You do know that I don't know how to do magic, right?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"You also know that I don't even know the motion to do for magic, right?"

"Oh, I didn't know that. Here, hold on." She flipped a few switches, and a hologram of Lulu, or what I thought looked like me, appeared to my right. "It's like this, the most basic spells anyway," she said. The Lulu raised her right arm, keeping the moogle in her left, and brought it down quickly. "Got that?" asked Silly.

"Once more," I said. The other Lulu did the motions again.

"Okay, thank you."

"You're welcome! So… try it!" she said.

I shrugged, and put my moogle in my left hand. I raised my right, and brought it down quickly, just as the other Lulu had done. Nothing happened.

"Okay… uh… try saying something with it."

"Alright," I replied. I did it the same, but this time I said. "Spark," with it. It was the only thing I could think of. Still, nothing happened. "Not a thing," I yelled to Silly.

"Dang. Mind if I try something?" she said.

"No, go right a head." She left the room she was in, and ran back to the table. "The lights will go off for a second, but everything will come back on in a second. I'll send the table back down." Then she left. The table snapped into place letting Silly out, and the lights switched off for just a second. Then the table started coming back down and the lights switched right back on. I thought I'd get a good look at this flan. It looked like a heap of blue slime. Even its tongue and eyes looked like slime. I hated the idea of it, it made me shiver. I couldn't look at it any more, so I thought I'd take a look at this moogle thingy. I was actually surprised how cute they were. I flicked the little ball on the top of it's head a couple of times.

While I was busy inspecting my stuffed animal Silly called down to me, "okay! I'm gonna come back down!"

"Alright," I yelled back. The table started up again. It reached the top, the lights switched off for a few seconds, then the lights came back on, and the table came back down. "Good, you stayed there, I was afraid that you were going to leave your mark. Look who I brought!" she said.

"Connie?" I heard.

I put my moogle back into my arms, and away from my face. "Hi Max."

"Wow… you…"

"I know. I look just like her, isn't it crazy?" I asked.

"Beyond crazy, it's down right insane. You look great."

"Thanks," I replied bluntly, "however I seem to be… not so great in the magic department. Would you give me a hand?"

"Well, the only magic I can do is from this materia, and that basically does most of the work for you. But, I'll try,"

"Thanks."

"You know your basic motion, right?"

"Yeah, we went through all that already."

"Okay. Let me see what you can do."

"Alright," I went through the motions just as I had learned, and just as I was supposed to. I brought my arm down fast, and looked at him. He was laughing at me! "What is so funny?"

"Nothing, sorry," he got himself under control. "Okay, let me see you do it once more," he said.

I shrugged, and did it once more only to find him laughing at me again! "Knock it off!"

"Sorry, you just look so funny. You look like a bird with only one wing! Hahaha!"

"Max, either knock it off now, or I swear to Yevon that as soon as I learn how," I brought my right arm up again, and brought it down when I said, "I will cast thunder on you!" I looked up, and saw a spark quickly turn from a spark to a bolt, and hit Max square in the chest. I had done magic! But, I had hit my own cousin! "MAX!" I yelled and ran to him, going off of my mark, and making the flan disappear.

He coughed a few times. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to hit you."

"Why? You did fine! You did magic!" he said excitedly.

"Yeah, but I hurt you."

"Okay, incase you haven't noticed, I'm Cloud. Okay? It's gonna take a lot more than just some Thunder spell to hurt me. But, I felt it. Good job."

"Thanks."

Silly just then came over the intercom. "Lulu, would you get back on your mark? I need to bring the flan back up, so we can practice some more."

"Sure," I went back to my mark.

"Cloud! Come here! You've been practicing hard, but I have a feeling we're gonna need you later, so come in here, okay?" Max went to the room Silly was in. "Okay, Lulu, let's see you do that again," she said.


	5. Getting Into Character

Disclaimer: "The only characters that are mine are Connie, her family, her friends, and her family's friends. All the other characters are from FFX, FFX-2, and FFVII. Unless you count the dog and cat's names which are from Kingdom Hearts, the animals are mine, but the names are from Kingdom Hearts." Yahtzee for repetition! Now back to the story.

On Earth as it is in Spira: Chapter 5: Getting into Character

I got back on my mark and I could see Silly pushing buttons and levers like mad. I was still working out in my head exactly how I did it. I just… got mad at him. That was all it took. I got mad at my cousin a lot, more often than not it was provoked, but, I did get mad at him often. Mostly I thought of how funny it would have been if just then I would have been able to hit him, I envisioned it, and when it was all over… well I was shocked that I had actually done it. "Okay Lulu, can ya hear me?" asked Silly over the intercom. I looked over at her little protective booth, where she and Max kept out of harms way.

"Yeah, I hear ya."

"Awesome. So, do you think you can pull that trick off once more?"

"Uh… I can sure try," I replied.

"Alright, let's give it a shot." She pushed one button and the blue flan reappeared in front of me, right where it had been the time before.

I glanced over where Silly and Max sat. Max stood up and walked over next to silly. He grabbed the microphone. "Hey, Connie,"

"What do you want Max?" I replied slightly annoyed.

"Good luck."

"Thanks," I replied. I lifted my right hand up. And I could hear Max laughing a little, already falling apart at how I looked, though I didn't care what he thought at all it still ticked me off a little bit, I brought my right hand down, and the thunder spell hit the flan, and it disappeared.

"Nice hit!" said Silly. "Okay, now that we have thunder down why don't we try our hand a little ice ay?"

"Bring it on," I said getting more excited and starting to enjoy this.

"Okay." She pushed another button and a red flan appeared in front of me. "Same motion, just a different spell. Good luck to ya!" she said.

"Thanks." I had to figure something out and quick. I had a feeling that getting mad wouldn't work quite as well; an ice spell had a completely different feeling to it. When you're doing lightning, I discovered you had to think about lightning, and how much it would literally shock you (not to mention the thing you were aiming for) if you did it correctly, of if you messed up, if you did it incorrectly. But with ice, it was a feeling of coldness. As in having no affection, and no feeling. Usually, I was a fairly warm person, I was affectionate toward Grandma Jill, my parents, my cousin, my friends, and it was hard for me to be cold at all. I glanced over at the booth for a second, and I saw Silly talking to Max. He was reaching for the microphone, and she was holding him back. She was probably telling him this spell would be different, so what he did last time wouldn't work quite as well. I looked back at the red flan bouncing up and down in front of me.

I thought about it for a second. Did I feel any affection at all for this creature? First of all, I knew it wasn't real, but if it were would I care? Second, why would I care? Fiends don't have parents, they are the pure evil in a person, and they are not born, they are just basically created. They were a pointless thing, and I felt no reason to feel for them, especially if their intention was to hurt someone who did matter to someone else.

I sighed quickly, and lifted my right hand once again. I felt no affection, no love, no care, no need to protect this creature, no need to hold back. My feelings were so cold that my hand that was in the air was getting cold. I brought it down quickly, and a block of ice hit the red flan, and it disappeared.

"ALRIGHT LULU!" I heard Silly cheer. "You know, you're getting good at this!" She laughed and smiled. I turned, and faced the booth, and bowed. "Okay, two down, two to go. Let's go head and do a lightning one now. Okey doke?" She pushed another button and a yellow electrified flan appeared. I nodded. I knew water was going to be hard.

I had to think about this one too. This couldn't be translated into a feeling, water was a noun, and nothing else… well… it could be an adjective, but only when you add a "Y" to the end. I had no clue how to go about this. "Silly," I yelled.

"Yeah?" she yelled back.

"Any idea what to do for water?"

"Uh-uh, sorry, no clue."

"Max, can you come out here for a sec?" I ask.

"Sure." The door opens and closes and he walks over. "No idea where to begin?"

"Nope."

"Okay," said Max, "let me try this. Water is…"

"Blue."

"And…

"Wet… what are you trying to do?"

"Figure something out, and hoping that some of this will trigger some sort of idea… anything?"

"No."

"Uh… hang on…"

"Wait, I have an idea."

"Well, let's see it."

I raised my right arm once more, and brought it down rapidly, and some way or another, the water spell worked. The yellow flan disappeared, and I looked at Max. "Okay, one more down."

"Wait a second… what did you figure out?"

"Just, thought about the spell, basically. Water is a polar molecule, I just thought about positive and negative molecules in the air, and the neutral feeling I knew it would take to create that. You know, I felt… neutral, just basic, and almost empty. That's what triggered the positive and negative ends to attract like that."

Max stared at me for about 10 seconds. Then the only word he said was, "Huh?"

"Never mind," I said, growing impatient. I noticed that my tolerance for my cousin was slowly diminishing.

"Nice job Lu! You wanna take a shot at an ice flan?"

"Send it in." Max started back toward the booth, Silly pushed the button, and I already knew exactly what to do for this one. I looked right at it, raised my right hand, and said out loud, "Burn," brought my hand down, and the fire spell was cast.

"Whoa..." I heard Silly say over the intercom. "You've gotten really good really fast!" she said.

"No, not really. That spell I felt way back when I first walked on the ship. Every time I said the spell name it would happen. Watch, bring out another ice flan, okay?"

Silly pushed the button, and I raised my right hand again. "Watch this, fire away," I brought my hand down on the word fire, and the fire spell just happened. "It was that simple, it's easy."

"Cool! Well, I suppose that that is about all the training we can do for today. Max, will you go and get everyone else. We're gonna go up to the bridge, and see how things are going."

"You got it," said Max. "I'll meet you there." We all headed for the 'elevator/table.' The second we got off Max took off running.

"You did good in there," Silly said.

"Thanks a million," I said.

"No, really, I mean it. But, you're really slipping into character. You notice that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you've gotten quiet, intolerable, you get lost deep in thought more often than you realize I bet," she said as we entered the elevator that would take us to the bridge.

"No, that's how I always act."

"You sure about that?"

The truth was, I wasn't sure about that, in fact, that's no where near to how I usually act, but for some reason, I felt the need to hide that. "Yeah, I'm sure," I said, lying.

"Okay, if you're sure." The elevator doors opened, and we walked onto the bridge.

"Silly," Brother said in his thick accent, "you might want to come and take a look at this."


	6. New Mission, New Member

Disclaimer: "The only characters that are mine are Connie, her family, her friends, and her family's friends. All the other characters are from FFX, FFX-2, and FFVII. Unless you count the dog and cat's names which are from Kingdom Hearts, the animals are mine, but the names are from Kingdom Hearts." And you thought I forgot! Pfft! Well, before I forget what happened let's get back to the story.

On Earth as it is in Spira: Chapter 6: New Mission, New Member

"What is it?" asked Silly going over to where Brother was standing, next to Buddy.

"Recent outbreak of fiends," said Buddy. "Right here."

"But, that's Kingston, Jamaica, where our new contact is."

"Yep. That's where their at. We're guessing their about the strength of those on Besaid. Not the strongest, but we can send down a few to take them out."

"So it shouldn't be too big of a problem."

"No, that is, if we can get people down their now, before they get too out of hand."

"Is that where we're headed?"

"Been flying that direction for about 10 minutes there, we should be there… real soon."

"Good flight time Buddy. I'll round up a few people. And I'll see if Rikku can get in touch with the person we've had contact with for a while. We've been talking of a good time to meet. I wonder if this would be a good time. Rather sudden, but… let's try it. Would we be ready for it Buddy?"

"I sure think so. We've been prepared since the beginning. Get a hold of Rikku, and see if you can get his attention."

"Awesome." Silly came and looked at me. I was about to protest, but then she said, "Help me round up a few people will ya."

"Uh… sure," I said. She and I both turned back toward the elevator only to meet everyone that was on the ship.

"Oh, that's right; everyone said they were coming here. Well, let me tell ya the situation then," said Silly. "We got some fiends down in Jamaica, around Kingston, the capital. Their pretty simple, nothin' to hard, but we need to get them outta there quick before they spread. Also, that is where our contact lives. Rikku, you'll need to get a hold of him A.S.A.P. so we can see if he'd be willing to meet us somewhere close by. Anyway, for the fiends, I'm going to send down those who can get the job done quickly, and are strong." This was a complete and total relief to me, because I wasn't that strong. Heck I head just learned four spells, and it was no guarantee that they were going to work again. "So, here's who I'm going to send." She looked around at everyone. "Paine, you go in your warrior dress sphere."

"Alright," she said nodding.

"And, Yuna, you go as a summoner" Yuna said nothing, but just simply nodded.

"Tidus, Yuffie, I want you two down their too."

They nodded in unison, and said, "Okay."

"Tidus, Paine and Yuffie stay together. Cloud you go down with Yuna."

"No problem," he said.

"And, Lulu, I'm gonna send you too, with Cloud and Yuna."

"Oka…-WHAT?" I said. I didn't want to go down. "No, no, no, you don't want me down there. I just figured out how magic works!"

"You'll be fine!" Silly said. "Besides, if anything goes wrong Yuna will be there as a summoner, she'll bail you out."

"And if she won't," said Max, "I will."

"See?" said Silly. "Now, Buddy's going to put us close to Kingston Jamaica, that's where the fiends showed up. There's some area around there that's thick with trees, so that's where he'll set us down."

"Where he'll set **you** down!" I said.

"Give it up Connie;" said Max, "you're going. End of story." I rolled my eyes. It was no use, and I was toast.

Everyone else was ready, but Yuna just had to change into her summoner outfit, since she was in her gunner outfit more often than not, so she went down to change quickly. Close behind her was Rikku, who was going to hastily speak with their contact… whatever that meant.

"Max, may I have a word with you?" said pulling him over to the side. "Okay, maybe you slept though that magic session back there, but I can hardly do a simple spell let alone anything beyond that!" I whispered to him.

"Connie, what are you worried about? You like magic a lot, and you used Lulu more often than anyone else in that game. Will you calm down?"

"No I will not calm down!"

"Then fine, stay here, sob, cry, and be pitiful. We have work to do."

I looked at him, and he looked at me, waiting for a reply. "Alright!" I said, "You win. I'll go, but I wont' like it."

"Fine by me."

"Okay, Silly, I'll go."

"Good! How long Buddy?"

"I'd say, about 2 minutes." It was then that Yuna came back, and Rikku.

"Good report!" Rikku said. "I spoke with the guy, and he said he'd be glad to meet me just outside the city. Will that work?"

"It should," replied Silly.

"Good, that's where he'll be. He'd been pretty confused if no one had been there!"

"So, we're ready then?" asked Yuna.

"Just about," said Silly, "but we should be there very soon."

"Okay," said Max. "Yuna, come here. Connie, you too. Now, these fiends are pretty simple, so we shouldn't have too much to worry about. But, Connie… uh, Lulu, is a little worried her magic isn't going to hold up."

"So I should keep Valfore handy?"

"Uh… yeah," I replied. "That'd be great."

"No problem."

"Alright!" yelled Buddy. "Say your 'see ya later's' I'm going to set us down.

Yuna quickly hugged Tidus and said, "See you soon."

"Same to you," he replied.

Max walked over to Aeris. "Promise not to worry too much?"

"Only a little," she replied. He nodded, and turned away from her. Aeris threw her arms around Max. "See you soon," she said. Max smiled, and let her hug him. She soon released her grip, and Max walked away from her.

"We'll be back soon Brother!" Rikku called running towards the door with tremendous energy. '_How can she be so… happy all the time?_' I thought to myself.

"Don't cause too much of a scene," Buddy said.

"We'll see you seven later, yes," said Brother.

We all got to the door of the ship, and it opened for us. We were on our way in fighting mission one in Jamaica, and finding a new member.


	7. Water Logged

Disclaimer: "The only characters that are mine are Connie, her family, her friends, and her family's friends. All the other characters are from FFX, FFX-2, and FFVII. Unless you count the dog and cat's names which are from Kingdom Hearts, the animals are mine, but the names are from Kingdom Hearts." Tired of all that yet? You probably will before too long. Just you wait. Anyway, moving on…

On Earth as it is in Spira: Chapter 7: Water Logged

As the door opened Max put on his sunglasses, and looked at me. "Here we go," he said. The doors finished opening, and we all leapt out. All seven of us headed for the town. No doubt we were quite a sight to see, dressed like we were, but there didn't seem to be many people around. They were still on the outside of the city, so there shouldn't be many problems. As we ran the only thing I could think about was, '_Will it work? Will my magic work? How did that motion go again? Oh yeah. All I have to do is remember how I did it the first time…_' things like that. Not only that, but I was a nervous wreck. Max seemed to be just fine; keeping his cool and such. Everyone else seemed alright as well, it was only me who was shaking. I kept my steps steady until we slowly came to a stop to figure out what all to do.

"Alright," said Max, taking charge instantly, for which I was glad. "Yuna, you me and Lulu will go off to the right, and get rid of any fiends we find. Tidus, you Yuffie, and Paine go off that way. Rikku, you know where you're going?"

"Yep! I know the exact location! Don't worry about me!" she said smiling, and practically bouncing where she stood. She must have eaten too much sugar or something.

"Alright. Then get rid of any fiend you find until Buddy says to come back. And… be sure it's a fiend ay? We don't need any dead dogs. Good luck all!"

Max, Yuna, and I all went in one direction while the other three went in another, and Rikku went off on her own path.

"Okay. I'm going forward," Max said.

"I'll go toward the right. Lulu, you go left, okay? Yell if you find a fiend," Yuna instructed.

"Got it," I said. We all slowed down, and went our respective directions. We would cover more ground this way.

I started looking through bushes, around trees, and up and down and everywhere. Then I heard Max. "Connie! Come now!" I had to go! I turn and ran in the direction I heard him calling.

When I came into view he started running, and I followed him. He led me to Yuna who had managed to find a few fiends. It was a coyote, an iron giant, and… a flan azul. I had a feeling… I was in trouble.

"Yuna!" Max said, "You go for the coyote, I'll take the iron giant, and Lulu, go for the flan." We all agreed. What else could we do? Yuna had the first attack. She ran towards the coyote, and smacked it up side the skull with her staff. It didn't go all that well, but, her staff attacks never did. Next was Max's turn. While he attacked the iron giant I was going over stuff in my head. '_The opposite of blue is… YELLOW! But… how did I do that…_' I did remember it was the first spell I had ever done, and I had cast it on Max. All I had to do was get mad again. Just enough; so, I figured that if I could get mad at Max I could get mad at a ball of slime. The only problem was casting the spell, but I had no choice. I had to give it a shot at least. Though I was a little worried, and kinda doubtful of my own ability to cast a spell.

I saw Max attack the iron giant, and completely took it out, easy as pie. It was my turn. I closed my eyes, thinking it would make me focus better. I brought up my right arm, thought about the blue ball of slime, and hoped I would hit it or something at least. I brought my arm down quickly, and opened my eyes. Nothing. Nothing happened at all.

I heard Max curse under his breath. "Yuna, Valfore." The coyote came up and attacked him, and he stumbled a little, but got his balance back very quick. The flan seemed to decide that I was its prime target, unfortunately. It cast its water spell. I didn't realize that water could hurt! But it hit me pretty hard, though not hard enough to make me too weak, or hurt me a lot, just enough for me to feel it without too much trouble.

It was Yuna's turn. She brought out Valfore and we all cleared the field, and Max came over to me while Yuna finished up. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, a little water logged, but fine."

"You doubted yourself… didn't you?"

I looked at him, shocked at what he said. I could tell because I saw my reflection in his sunglasses. But, I had every right to be shocked. He had practically read my mind. "How did you-"

"I did the same thing in my battle. I ran up to a fiend, and totally swung past him. No where near close. You can't do that Connie! You can't doubt yourself like that. Alright?"

"Alright," I said.

"Guys!" Yuna called, "it's over! Those fiends are gone. Start looking for more!"

Max and I nodded, and started off again, all going separate directions. Not five minutes passed when I heard Max's call again. "Connie! Now!" he yelled. I saw him, but this time he didn't go running, he had found the fiends, a coyote, a lesser drake, and, of course, another flan azul. This time it was Max's turn to start. He attacked the lesser drake, no problem, out cold, and gone. Yuna went next smacking the coyote again, doing very little. Then it was me. I figured I could do it. I mean, if I didn't we'd be alright, but I figured that I could pull it off. Still I was a little nervous. I took a deep breath, and raised my right arm, but didn't close my eyes this time. I looked right at the evil little blue slime ball, really not liking it for more than one reason, and brought my arm down. A crack rang through the air, and struck the flan dead on the skull. He bounced once or twice, and then he kinda died too. I looked over at Max and smiled; he smiled back at me, and nodded, the only indication that I had done a good job. He then turned, and, because we had gotten lucky and he had time, attacked the coyote, getting rid of it.

Yuna smiled at me, and came over to me. "That was great! You really did a good job."

"Hmmm, thanks," I said. I did do a good job, but… for some reason, I felt like I didn't want nor deserve the credit. "Let's get going," I said.

"Okay!" Yuna said, and we all started off again searching for more fiends. Well, we fought about 9 more sets of 3 before we got the call from Buddy while we were looking around. "Okay guys! The other group just got rid of the last of the fiends that I can see. Why don't you head back? Good job!"

We all started the walk back in silence. I was doing a lot of thinking. How I had done that, how I would do it all again, and how lucky I was that it had only not worked one time. I was excited, but it was probably hard to tell. Besides, I owed Yuna quite a bit for saving me back there in the first battle. But, I kept quiet, and kept walking with Max and Yuna.

Within a few minutes we had made it back to the ship. Following us about a minute behind was the other three. We congratulated each other as Buddy opened the doors back up for us. We all got in and headed to the Bridge. There Rikku was waiting for us, though the new guy wasn't there.

"Whoo!" she said when she saw us all coming. "The hero's of the hour! Alright!" She was still far too cheery for my liking. Max went over and gave Aeris a hug, it hadn't been that long, but… he had missed her, or… maybe they were just worried about each other… or something.

"You guys did gud!" Brother said.

"Thanks," Yuna said.

"What about the new passenger?" Yuffie asked. "Is he on now?"

"Yep. He's just back with Silly getting everything finalized. He sounds pretty definite, and it's more than likely that he'll join us. But we have to wait until we are VERY sure before we go. Oooooh! I'm just so excited!" she said.

"How long will it all take?" Paine asked.

"Oh, no more than… 5 minutes at the most!" Rikku said. "Then we should be on our way again!" And then, as the icing on the cake, she broke out into song singing "On the Road Again" with different lyrics. "On the way again. I just can't wait to be on our way again…"

All I could do was shake my head. I had to sit down, and I decided to look on the bright side. I wouldn't be the newest member anymore. Still… this new member made me curious.


	8. Update with Jill

Disclaimer: "The only characters that are mine are Connie, her family, her friends, and her family's friends. All the other characters are from FFX, FFX-2, and FFVII. Unless you count the dog and cat's names which are from Kingdom Hearts, the animals are mine, but the names are from Kingdom Hearts." Okay, yes, I realize it's been over a year since I updated this story, but I've had writer's block on it MAJOR. That and I've gotten really busy. So, just to show some sign of life I'm gonna update it. Who knows, maybe it'll even clear my Final Fantasy writer's block. Wish me luck!

There are just a few shout outs I'd like to make.

**The Omega Gigantic all Powerful DUCK**, **wingz of heaven**, and **Big Green Eyes** for reviewing my story. I really do appreciate it. And also thanks to Big Green Eyes for the wake up call, and the Tifa suggestion. Who knows, she might just show up. Could happen. Anyway, please review if ya got a sec. I love hearing feed back and getting suggestions! Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

On Earth as it is in Spira: Chapter 8: Update with Jill

"So, who is this new guy?" Max asked as he folded his arms.

"Well, his real name is Jamal. But he'll be our Wakka," Rikku explained.

I thought about that for a second. My mind went through the story lines from FFX and X-2, and suddenly my mind stopped on something, and my eyes went a little wide, but I hid the emotion quickly and went back to appearing as though it made no difference to me.

"Does he have the right hair and everything?" Yuna asked.

"Well… it is red, but not styled right. But Silly'll fix that real quick," Rikku answered still bouncing as she spoke.

The conversation from there kept going, but I didn't listen much. I was a bit focused on the matter at hand. I wouldn't just like this guy because I was supposed to… would I? I mean, Max had quite the crush on Aries, and Yuna and Tidus seemed very close. But beyond that, it made me wonder if it was actual attraction, or superficial.

"Hey, Connie," Max said to get my attention. "I'm gonna call Jill, you want to come talk to her with me?"

"Sure," I said standing up.

Max walked over to Shinra who sat at the Comsphere computer. "Hey, Shinra."

"Hello Cloud."

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"Let me guess, you two want to call your grandmother?"

"You guessed it," Max said. I stared at the genius boy with a small smile. He seemed normal to me.

"Be my guest," he said scooting back a little. "Just push that button, select the one that says Jill, and then push that button," he said.

Max nodded and stepped in front of the boy. He pushed the buttons in the sequence he was told, and the screen faded black.

A few seconds later Grandma Jill's face came on screen. "Hello? Max, Connie, can you hear me? Oh, there you are!" Grandma Jill was the coolest ever. She could figure out anything, including a Comsphere.

"Hi Jill," Max said with a smile.

"Hello Grandma Jill."

"Whoa! Is that Connie? Geeze, you've changed in the few hours you've been gone. What is all that?"

"Just some hair stuff, different clothes, don't worry Grandma Jill, nothing to get worked up over. Just a bit of a wardrobe change."

"Personally, I like it," she said with a smile.

"So, Jill, any update?"

"Ummm… well I haven't heard about any problems with the Zoo's, or anything strange with animals. I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary either. Not around here anyway, and no news reports either."

"Sounds boring," I said with a smile.

"How has the magic and mystery been going for you two?" she asked us.

"Pretty good. We had some problems today in Jamaica, but it was simple and taken care of in minutes."

"Well, that solves the mystery," she said with a smile to Max. "How's the magic Connie?"

"Well… I can cast a few spells."

"Really? You'll have to show me that sometime."

"The next time I stop by I will," I promised her.

"What can you do?"

"Just the four basics. Water, lighting, fire, and ice."

"She did some casting today in battle as well, and managed to take out quite a few fiends."

"I got lucky," I said to him with a small smile.

"Lucky, or just plain good, whatever you want to call it, she's getting better." Max just complimented me? Wow, that was a shocker. He hadn't been this nice in a long time. It was rather strange actually.

"Well good, glad to hear it. I'm sure she'll be casting those huge spells in no time flat."

"I'm not so sure about that, but you never know," I said with a shrug. It felt a little strange getting all this praise.

"And how about you Max?"

"He's been progressing great! Sword technique and everything. He took out some major fiends today in one hit! And these were major ones, not the little things that are barely alive."

"Wow, it sounds like you did very well. Well done Max."

"Thanks," he said nodding a little.

"Any other news?" she asked.

"Nope," Max said and I shook my head no. "Any from you?"

"None. Call me back tomorrow, and I'll try and give you an update on what's happening here. Will you be home for Christmas?"

"Uhhh… maybe," Max said with a shrug. We had two weeks before we had to be back so I could go back to school, to finish up the year. It may turn out that we would have to work on Christmas too.

"Well, looking forward to hearing from you both. Keep me posted, ciao!" she said and with that her face disappeared into black, and Shinra's screen faded back up.

"Thanks Shinra," Max said.

"No problem. Any time, but I need to get back to work, or the configuration of some of the spheres won't get done."

"Right… thanks again," I said and let the boy keep working.

"Hey! Hey! He's comin' out! Rikku said. "Ladies and gentleman… Wakka!"


	9. Traveling Conversations

Disclaimer: "The only characters that are mine are Connie, her family, her friends, and her family's friends. All the other characters are from FFX, FFX-2, and FFVII. Unless you count the dog and cat's names which are from Kingdom Hearts, the animals are mine, but the names are from Kingdom Hearts." Words seen almost too much for my liking, but… they must be said to keep me out of trouble, because I don't like being in trouble. Check it out! I updated again! Alright, I dunno how this is all gonna go, but I am gonna try and keep a consistent update on this story. So… if you don't hear from me at the absolute LEAST once a month… well either yell at me or… assume something bad happened. I'll try and keep this story moving though. Maybe… every other week you'll see somethin' new pop up. Alright, now before I bore you all to death, enjoy the chapter, and… see ya soon!

On Earth as it is in Spira: Chapter 9: Traveling Conversations

"Uhhh… hi?" a man said stepping through the door and waving sheepishly. It was Wakka alright, looked just like him. He was tan, had red hair, was the right height, and had a smile… to die for. I mean, he looked nice! Like a nice guy! You know what I mean.

Yuna rolled her eyes. "You're putting the poor boy on the spot. Come on down Wakka, we'll get to know you better," she said with a smile.

Wakka smiled at her and then came down the stairs quickly, obviously glad for the invitation.

"Sooooo… you're Wakka then," Paine said looking him up and down. "Yeah, I think you'll fit the spot rather well," she said confirming it.

Everyone else sized him up as well, and each nodded their head in approval. "So… let me guess," he said looking around at all of them. "We've got… Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Yuffie, Barilai, Lenne, Aeris, Tidus, Shuyin, Cloud, and…Lulu," he said as his eyes rested on me.

"You got it!" Rikku said with a grin. "And, you've already met Silly," she said motioning to the girl who was not from any game that we knew of.

Wakka's eyes left me, for which I was glad, and went to the girl whom he had not seen before. "Uhhh, yeah," he said with a smile. His teeth looked really white against his dark skin.

"So… I assume you know what's going on here?" Yuna asked him.

"Yeah, Rikku and… uhhh… Silly explained it all to me already. Fiends in the real world."

"Exactly," Tidus said nodding.

"Hey!" Buddy called, "we got another spotting! In… Germany!" he said.

Rikku dashed to the computer. "Do we have an exact location?"

"Near Munich," Buddy said. "Not quite though… about ten miles out."

"So I guess that's our next stop then?" Lenne asked.

"Yes, we are going to Germany!" Brother said and started the Celsius, full speed ahead, towards Munich, Germany.

"In the mean time," Wakka said. And I suddenly realized he was standing right next to me, "How long you been here?"

"Just arrived this morning," I answered.

"Oooohh, so you and me can learn this together then, good, glad to know I'm not the only new one heah, ya?" he said with a smile to me.

"Right," I agreed.

We both went silent for a second.

"Ummm… cute doll," he said pointing to the moogle I held in my arms.

"Thanks," I said.

More silence.

"You… play sports?" I asked. I didn't play any myself, but my assumption was that his answer was going to be…

"Oh ya! My specialties are basketball and soccer! Though I was captain of my school's swimmin' team too! Heh… guess I do a lot of sports things huh? You play sports?"

"Not unless I have to," I answer, which… was the truth to be honest. "But… at times, they can be enjoyable," I agree to that much.

"You swim?"

"Used to."

"Play basketball or soccer?"

"Never for competition, and when I did play for fun… we hardly followed the rules."

"Sounds like my kinda way ta play ya? No rules, just fun. Maybe you and I could play some time. Okay?"

"Might be fun," I said with a small nod.

"Hey… Connie," Max called to me from behind.

"Excuse me," I say to Wakka… or Jamal and turn to go talk to my cousin. "What?" I ask.

"Nice guy?"

"Who… Wakka? I suppose he's rather… congenial. Why?"

"B'cause… you've got this look in your eye."

"What look?"

"The look you had when you saw Sora for the first time."

"…the dog?"

"No! The boy! The first time you played Kingdom Hearts and heard Haley Joel Osment's voice and saw Sora, you had this look in your eye."

"Again I ask, what look?"

"You've got a crush."

"I have not!" I said almost in an offended voice.

"Oh… yeah… you do," he said with a mischievous look.

"I have not… b'sides you like Aeris!"

"So you admit it."

"I admit nothing… because there is no crush to admit to."

He looked at me in such a way that just by a small smirk I could tell he was taunting me.

"I refuse to speak any more on the subject… good day," I said to him before walking away from him and over to the window to watch the clouds soar by. Though… I had a small sneaking suspicion that Max was right. I did have a crush on Jamal… like I would admit it.


End file.
